Method for generating screenshot image on television terminal and associated television

ABSTRACT

This application provides a TV screenshot method and an associated television (TV). The method includes: upon receiving a screenshot request, acquiring a layer range of On Screen Display (OSD) sub-layers corresponding to windows of every application displayed on an OSD layer; and generating the screenshot image by taking a snap shot of the OSD sub-layers in the layer range. This application can prevent unwanted system notification information image from being captured when a snap shot is taken.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No.201610596956.1, filed on Jul. 26, 2016, entitled “METHOD FOR GENERATINGSCREENSHOT IMAGE ON TELEVISION TERMINAL AND ASSOCIATED TELEVISION”,which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This application relates to the field of smart television (TV)technology, and particularly to a method for generating a screenshotimage on a TV terminal and an associated TV.

BACKGROUND

With the development and popularization of smart TV systems, smart TVsnot only can be used to watch live TV programs input by analog signals,digital signals, and etc., but also can be used to install someapplications to achieve richer functions, even communicate with theInternet. In view of the above needs, a smart TV has various functions,including concurrently displaying pictures input by various physicalsignals, as well as interfaces for various applications.

When a user desires to record information while using the applicationson the smart TV, relevant information can be stored in a screenshotmanner. When the user initiates a screenshot operation, the existing TVscreenshot method is to take a full screen snap shot on all theinformation presented on the TV. The full screen snap shot thus obtainedmay include unwanted system notification information, e.g. a volume bar,leading to excessive contents on the screenshot.

SUMMARY

This application provides a method for generating a screenshot image ona TV terminal and an associated television.

On a first aspect, this application provides a method for generating ascreenshot image on a TV terminal, the method including:

upon receiving a screenshot request, acquiring a layer range of OnScreen Display (OSD) sub-layers corresponding to windows of everyapplication displayed on an OSD layer; and

generating the screenshot image by taking a snap shot of the OSDsub-layers in the layer range.

On a second aspect, this application provides a television (TV),including:

a memory storing instructions; a processor coupled with the memory andconfigured to execute the instructions stored in the memory, and theprocessor is configured to:

upon receiving a screenshot request, acquire a layer range of On ScreenDisplay (OSD) sub-layers corresponding to windows of every applicationdisplayed on an OSD layer; and

generate the screenshot image by taking a snap shot of the OSDsub-layers in the layer range.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

A brief introduction will be given hereinafter to the accompany drawingswhich will be used in the description of the embodiments or the priorart in order to explain the technical resolutions in the embodiments ofthe present application or the prior art more clearly. Apparently, thedrawings described below are merely some embodiments of the presentapplication. Those skilled in the art may derive other drawings fromthese drawings without any creative effort.

FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating a method for generating a screenshotimage on a TV terminal provided in some embodiments of this application;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating another method for generating ascreenshot image on a TV terminal provided in some embodiments of thisapplication;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating yet another method for generating ascreenshot image on a TV terminal provided in some embodiments of thisapplication;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an optional implementation for thestep 302 in the method depicted in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating another optional implementation forthe step 302 in the method depicted in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating yet another method for generating ascreenshot image on a TV terminal provided in some embodiments of thisapplication;

FIG. 7A is a schematic diagram of an interface according to anapplication scenario for the method depicted in FIG. 6;

FIG. 7B is a schematic diagram of an interface according to anotherapplication scenario for the method depicted in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8A is a schematic diagram of an application scenario according tosome embodiments of this application;

FIG. 8B is a schematic diagram of a display image on a signal layeraccording to some embodiments of this application;

FIG. 8C is a schematic diagram of a picture of a live TV application onan OSD layer according to some embodiments of this application;

FIG. 8D is a schematic diagram of a picture of a setting applicationaccording to some embodiments of this application;

FIG. 8E is a schematic diagram of a picture of a volume bar on an OSDlayer according to some embodiments of this application;

FIG. 8F is a schematic diagram of a picture showing a first superposingscreenshot image captured in some embodiments of this application;

FIG. 9 is a schematic structural diagram illustrating an apparatus forgenerating a screenshot image on a TV terminal provided in someembodiments of this application; and

FIG. 10 is a schematic structural diagram illustrating a TV provided insome embodiments of the present application.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In order to make the purposes, the technical solutions and theadvantages of the present application more apparent, the technicalsolutions of the present application will be described clearly andcompletely with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, thedescribed embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the presentapplication, rather than all of them. According to the embodiments ofthe present application, all of the other embodiments obtained by thosewith ordinary skill in the art without any creative effort fall withinthe protection scope of the present application.

FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating a method for generating a screenshotimage on a TV terminal provided in some embodiments of this application.

Step 101: upon receiving a screenshot request, acquire a layer range ofOn Screen Display (OSD) sub-layers corresponding to windows of everyapplication.

Step 102: generate the screenshot image by taking a snap shot of the OSDsub-layers in the layer range.

In this application, when a user desires to keep image informationcurrently displayed on the TV terminal, the user may initiate ascreenshot request through the remote or voice control of the TVterminal, which will not be limited in this application. When thescreenshot request is received, the TV terminal may decide on the screencontent to be captured. It should be noted that, the image displayed onthe TV terminal may include: signal input from various physical signalsources, application windows, and system notifications, etc. Amongthese, the signal input from the physical signal source is presented onthe signal layer, while applications running on the TV terminal, as wellas the system notifications, are presented on the OSD layer. Eachapplication may put up one or more windows on the TV screen, with eachwindow being on different OSD sub-layers in the OSD layer, where an OSDsub-layer may be identified by a windows layer.

The TV terminal may interpret the user's intention for the snap shotbased on the images currently displayed. For instance, if only anapplication window is displayed on the current screen, the screenshotmay be performed for the OSD sub-layer containing the application windowalone. When an application and a system notification are shown on thecurrent screen, snap shots may be separately taken for the OSD sub-layercontaining the application window and that containing the notification,or just for that containing the application window alone. If anapplication window and signals on the signal layer are concurrentlydisplayed, snap shots may be separately taken for the OSD sub-layercontaining the application window and the signal layer, and the finalscreenshot image may be obtained by superposing the separately capturedOSD sub-layers containing the application windows and the signal layer.

There may be at least two active applications in the layer range to beacquired, with each application presenting one or more windows on theOSD layer. Thus, when the current screen displays multiple windows ofone or more applications, a layer range, which includes the OSDsub-layers corresponding to the multiple windows, may be acquired. Forexample, a layer range of the OSD sub-layers corresponding to thewindows of a particular application displayed on the current screen mayconsists of a collection of OSD sub-layers corresponding to the one ormore windows of that application. Similarly, a layer range of the OSDsub-layers corresponding to multiple windows of multiple applicationsdisplayed on the current screen may consists of a collection of OSDsub-layers corresponding to the multiple windows of the multipleapplications.

The TV terminal may generate the screenshot image by superposing everyOSD sub-layer in the layer range thus acquired and taking a snap shot ofthe superposed image at a time, thus generating the final screenshotimage without having to separately take snap shots of every OSDsub-layer and determine which image should be in the front or which partof an image should be covered.

Upon receiving the screenshot request, a layer range of OSD sub-layerscorresponding to windows of every application displayed on the OSD layerare acquired, and the screenshot image are generated by taking a snapshot of the OSD sub-layers in the layer range. Since the scope of thescreenshot does not include the OSD sub-layers containing systemnotifications, unwanted system notifications can be prevented fromshowing up in the final snap shot obtained when a full screen snap shotof the entire OSD layer is taken.

It should also be noted that, the TV terminal may predefine layerattributes of an OSD sub-layer. For instance, the OSD sub-layer is anopaque layer if the window displaying area on this OSD sub-layer coversthe entire screen, or the OSD sub-layer is a semitransparent layer ifthe window displaying area on this OSD sub-layer does not spread overthe entire screen. On the basis of the above described embodiment, thisapplication further provides several optional implementations for takinga snap shot of the OSD sub-layers in the layer range.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a method for generating a screenshotimage on a TV terminal provided in some embodiments of this application.

On the basis of the method illustrated in FIG. 1 and referring to FIG.2, the step 102 may include:

Step 201: determine whether an OSD sub-layer corresponding to anoutermost window is an opaque layer.

In this case, the outermost window is the window in the layer rangedisplayed at the outermost side of the TV terminal.

Step 202: if yes, generate the screenshot image by taking a snap shot ofthe

OSD sub-layer containing the outermost window.

Since the OSD sub-layer closest to the user is an opaque layer, i.e. thewindow displaying area on this OSD sub-layer covers the entire screen,the snap shot may only include the OSD sub-layer containing this window,without the need to capture any OSD sub-layer of the windows in the backthereof.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method for generating a screenshotimage on a TV terminal provided in some embodiments of this application.FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an optional implementation for thestep 302 in the method depicted in FIG. 3. FIG. 5 is a flowchartillustrating another optional implementation for the step 302 in themethod depicted in FIG. 3.

On the basis of the method illustrated in FIG. 1 and referring to FIG.3, the step 102 may include:

Step 301: successively determine whether the OSD sub-layer in the layerrange is a semitransparent layer.

For example, the determinations may be made successively, from theoutside to the inside of the OSD sub-layer displayed on the TV terminal.The layer attributes of each OSD sub-layer may be determined in othersequences, or the layer attributes of all the OSD sub-layers may bedetermined at a time, which will not be limited in this application.

Step 302: if the first OSD sub-layer through to the N-th OSD sub-layerdisplayed at the outermost side of the TV terminal are semitransparentlayers while the (N+1)-th window is an opaque layer, generate thescreenshot image by taking a snap shot of the OSD sub-layers containingthe first window through to the (N+1)-th window,

where N≧1.

It should be noted that, the generating the screenshot image by taking asnap shot of the OSD sub-layers containing the first window through tothe (N+1)-th window in the step 302 may further include several optionalimplementations.

In a first implementation of step 302, and referring to FIG. 4, the step302 may include:

Step 401: take separate full screen images for each of the OSDsub-layers containing the first window through to the (N+1)-th window.

In such a full screen image of the OSD sub-layer, areas other than thewindow displayed on the OSD sub-layer is filled with a background color,e.g. black, if the OSD sub-layer is a semitransparent layer, i.e. thewindow displayed on the OSD sub-layer does not cover the entire screen.

Step 402: generate the screenshot image by superposing the full screenimages of the first OSD sub-layer through to the (N+1)-th OSD sub-layer.

In this case, the superposing process may begin from removing thebackground color from the full screen images of the first OSD sub-layerthrough to the N-th OSD sub-layer, then proceed to follow the orderthese OSD sub-layers are arranged to superpose these full screen imagesover that of the (N+1)-th OSD sub-layer, thus generating the screenshotimage.

The background color may be removed by directly removing image portionsin black, or removing image portions other than the window displayingareas on the full screen image, which will not be limited in thisapplication.

In a second implementation of step 302, referring to FIG. 5, and thestep 302 may include:

Step 501: take full screen images for the OSD sub-layers containing thefirst window through to the N-th window, and take a full screen imagefor the (N+1)-th OSD sub-layer.

In this case, areas not covered by the first window through to the N-thwindow when the full screen image is taken may be filled with abackground color in a way similar to that of step 401, which will not berepeated herein.

Step 502: generate the screenshot image by superposing the full screenimages of the OSD sub-layers containing the first window through to theN-th window over the full screen image of the (N+1)-th OSD sub-layer.

In this case, the screenshot image is generated by removing thebackground from the full screen images of the OSD sub-layers containingthe first window through to the N-th window, and then superposing thesefull screen images over the full screen image captured for the (N+1)-thOSD sub-layer.

The background is removed from the full screen image being generatedaccording to screen areas not covered by the windows in a way similar tothat of step 402, which will not be repeated herein.

Since the first through to the N-th OSD sub-layers closest to the userare semitransparent layers, while the (N+1)-th OSD sub-layer is anopaque layer, i.e. the window displaying area on this (N+1)-th OSDsub-layer covers the entire screen, the snap shot may only include theOSD sub-layer containing the first N+1 windows, without having tocapture any OSD sub-layer ranked after N+1.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a method for generating a screenshotimage on a TV terminal provided in some embodiments of this application.FIG. 7A is a schematic diagram of an interface according to anapplication scenario for the method depicted in FIG. 6. FIG. 7B is aschematic diagram of an interface according to another applicationscenario for the method depicted in FIG. 6. Referring to FIG. 6, on thebasis of the method illustrated in FIG. 1, the step 102 in this methodembodiment may include:

Step 601: determine whether OSD sub-layers in the layer range aresemitransparent layers, and whether there is input at a physical signalsource of the TV terminal.

Step 602: if the result is yes, generate a first image by taking a snapshot of the OSD sub-layer in the layer range, and a second image bytaking a snap shot of the image input from the physical signal source;and generate a first superposing screenshot image by superposing thefirst image and the second image.

In this case, the first image may be generated by taking a snap shot ofthe OSD sub-layers in the layer range in a way similar to that describedin step 401 or 501 for taking the full screen image of the first OSDsub-layer through to the N-th OSD sub-layer.

The generating the second image by taking a snap shot of the image inputfrom the physical signal source may include:

acquiring the image presented on the signal layer from the physicalsignal source; and

obtaining a second image by taking a snap shot of the image displayed onthe signal layer.

It should be noted that, the generating a screenshot image bysuperposing the first image and the second image in step 602 may beaccomplished in a way according to the superposing the full screenimages of the first through to the N-th OSD sub-layers over that of the(N+1)-th OSD sub-layer described in step 402 or 502.

Optionally, following step 601, it may further include:

Step 603: if the result is no, generate a second superposing screenshotimage by taking a snap shot of the OSD sub-layers in the layer range.

It should be noted that, if the result is no, i.e. not all OSDsub-layers in the layer range are semitransparent layers, or no imageinput is detected at a physical signal source of the TV terminal, thenthere is no need to take the snap shot of the image input from thephysical signal source. Furthermore, the snap shot may be taken for theOSD sub-layers in the layer range by following the process in steps 301and 302 when not all the OSD sub-layers in the layer range aresemitransparent layers.

The existing TV screenshot method only supports capturing a full screenof the entire signal layer or the OSD layer, and hence windows forsystem notification information, e.g. volume bar, will also be capturedin the final screenshot image if a full screen snap shot is captured forthe current TV display when physical signal source input, otherapplication windows and system notification information are allpresented on the TV. However, in practical use, it is unnecessary totake a snap shot of these system notification information interfaces.Hence, when screenshot is taken, it is necessary to remove systemnotification information windows interfaces on the OSD layer.

It should be noted that, the OSD may include one level of Activity forapplications and multiple levels of FloatView for displaying systemnotification information, where application windows are typicallydisplayed on the Activity. According to the method provided in thisapplication, it is possible to obtain snap shot images corresponding tosub-layers in the Activity, i.e. snap shot images for OSD sub-layerscontaining application windows.

In order to solve the aforementioned problems in embodiments of thisapplication, a user may initiate a screenshot request to the TV terminalby making a key stroke on a remote controller or through voice when asnap shot of the TV is desired. Upon receiving the screenshot request,after determining that all OSD sub-layers on the OSD layer aresemitransparent layers, the TV terminal determines whether the TVterminal has input from a physical signal source such as a Digital TV(DTV)/Analog TV (ATV) signal, High Definition Multimedia Interface(HDMI)/Audio-Video (AV)/Video Graphics Array (VGA), etc., the inputcontent from which are displayed on the signal layer of the TV.

If there is input from a physical signal source, a display image isacquired from the physical signal source by implementing any method fortaking a snap shot of the signal layer in the related art. Meanwhile, alayer range is acquired for the OSD sub-layers corresponding to windowsof at least one application displayed on the OSD layer. For example, aTV terminal screen is displaying a physical signal source input and anapplication window, with a system notification information windowinterface floating over the display pictures of the current applicationand physical signal source input. At this time, snap shots need to beseparately taken for the OSD sub-layers corresponding to the systemnotification information and the display pictures of the currentapplication and physical signal source input. For instance, a window ofApplication 1 is on OSD sub-layers spanning the layer range of21050-21055, and is displayed atop the signal layer. Optionally, theremay further be a system notification information window interface on OSDsub-layers spanning the layer range of 21060-21065. Then, as depicted inFIG. 7A, a first superposing interface snap shot is ultimately acquiredby combining a snap shot of the display image of the physical signalsource with the interface snap shot of OSD sub-layers in the layer rangeof 21050-21055 that corresponds to the window of Application 1.

If there is no physical signal source input, as depicted in FIG. 7B, ifmultiple application windows are displayed on the TV, a layer range willbe acquired for the OSD sub-layers corresponding to the multipleapplication windows. According to these sub-layers, a snap shot isseparately taken for each application interface. Finally, the snap shotsfor every application interface in the layer range are combined toobtain the second superposing interface snap shot. For example, in FIG.7B, windows of the second application correspond to a window layer rangeof 21050-21055, and windows of the first application correspond to awindow layer range of 21056-21056. If the windows of the firstapplication, which are show on the top, are on semitransparent OSDsub-layers, and windows of the second application are also onsemitransparent OSD sub-layers in the range of 21051-21055, snap shotswill be taken for OSD sub-layers in the range of 21050-21056, so as toobtain the screenshot image.

In this case, when the layer range corresponding to application windowsis acquired in practical applications, the layer range corresponding toa window may be acquired via an interface from the window managementframework service of the operation system. In the present application, anew Read command and a layer range acquiring logic are added to theinter-process communication interface of said service, which are relatedto communications between the processes for OSD layer handling andsignal layer handling, and can leverage communication mechanisms betweenbinder processes to realize data transfer.

The method for generating a screenshot image on a TV terminal providedin this embodiments acquires, upon receiving a screenshot request, alayer range for OSD sub-layers corresponding to windows of everyapplication displayed on an OSD layer, determines whether OSD sub-layersin the layer range are semitransparent layer, and whether an input isdetected at a physical signal source of the TV terminal. If the resultis yes, a snap shot will be captured for the display image of thephysical signal source on the signal layer and for the OSD sub-layerscorresponding to the windows of every application according to the layerrange. Then, the screenshot image may be obtained by superposing thesnap shot of OSD sub-layers containing the application windows over thesnap shot of the display image of the physical signal source on thesignal layer. Since the snap shot is only taken for the applicationsdisplayed on the OSD layer and the display image of the physical signalsource on the signal layer, unwanted system notification informationwindow interface will not be included in the final snap shot.

In this case, a specialized data structure may be constructed to storeeach data set, so as to facilitate the acquisition of layer range dataof the application windows, and hence the step 101 may further include:

store the layer range of application windows using an array.

An array may be used for storing layer range data of a set of windows,where each element in the array may indicate a layer of a window or alayer range of a set of windows, such as a layer range of every windowof an application. The data may be written into the array in an orderrepresenting the sequence of how the layers are superposed, i.e. layeror layer range data for OSD sub-layers of application window displayedon the top layer are stored in the front of the array, and so on. Thenumber of data in the array indicates the number of applications forwhich snap shots need to be taken.

Such a data structure may for example be:

WindowLayer { String packageName; —Package name of the application intmaxLayer; —Maximum window layer int minLayer; —Minimum window layer }

Furthermore, on the basis of the above described embodiment, as depictedin FIG. 7B, if multiple applications are displayed on the TV screen,this embodiment may take separate snap shots for each of the multipleinterfaces of the multiple applications. If a first application isdisplayed over, but does not completely cover, a second application,separate snap shots may be taken for the first and the secondapplications. Alternatively, a snap shot may be taken after superposingthe interfaces, which may be realized in a way described in thefollowing:

acquiring a layer range [M, N] of the superposed windows, where M is theminimum layer of the layer range of the windows of the secondapplication, and N is the maximum layer of the layer range of thewindows of the first application; and

acquiring a first superposing interface snap shot by taking a snap shotfor interfaces in the window layer range of [M, N], where the firstsuperposing interface snap shot is a snap shot of the superposedinterfaces of the first and the second applications depicted in FIG. 7B.

For example, if the windows of the second application are in the layerrange of 21050-21055 and the windows of the first application are in thelayer range of 21056-21056, snap shot will need to be captured for thewindows in the range of [21050, 21056], i.e. the [M, N]. As an example,when stored as array elements, the layer range of the windows of thefirst application may be {1; 21056; 21056}, while that of the secondapplication may be {2; 21050; 21055}.

In this case, the applications are displayed on the user interface (UI)layer, and a full screen image may be captured for each applicationwindow by taking snap shots of the UI layer according to the maxLayervalue and the minLayer value in each set of data structure in the array,using the packageName in the set of data respectively as theidentification (ID) for the snap shot, so that the ID may be used in thefuture for generating the superposed image.

In this case, if there are applications which are not displayed over theentire screen, a snap shot captured for such an application will have ablack background that, if simply combined with the snap shot of thedisplay image, could undesirably cover the display image on the signallayer. Hence in step 102, the full screen images for each application,after being separately captured, may be processed to have theirbackground removed in a way similar to that of step 402 before theimages are superposed to generate the final screenshot image. Forexample, interface snap shots of applications that are not displayedover the entire screen may be processed to have their black backgroundremoved.

The black background may be removed by: drawing the entire applicationinterface, except for the black background, onto a transparent canvasdimensioned identically as the interface of the original application.

FIG. 8A is a schematic diagram of an application scenario according tosome embodiments of this application. FIG. 8B is a schematic diagram ofa display image on a signal layer according to some embodiments of thisapplication. FIG. 8C is a schematic diagram of a picture of a live TVapplication on an OSD layer according to some embodiments of thisapplication. FIG. 8D is a schematic diagram of a picture of a settingapplication on an OSD layer according to some embodiments of thisapplication. FIG. 8E is a schematic diagram of a picture of a volume baron an OSD layer according to some embodiments of this application. FIG.8F is a schematic diagram of a picture showing a first superposingscreenshot image captured in some embodiments of this application.

Furthermore, the user has turned on a live TV application, meaning thatthere is an input from a physical signal source, with the display imageof the physical signal source being depicted in FIG. 8B. Moreover, thelive TV application itself also has display pictures on the OSD layer,as depicted in FIG. 8C. Meanwhile, a setting application is additionallystarted, as depicted in FIG. 8D. Other than these, a volume bar is alsoturned on, as depicted in FIG. 8E. Hence in the end, as depicted in FIG.8F, the snap shot of the signal layer and the snap shot of the OSD layerwithout the volume bar are superposed into a combined single image toobtain the final screenshot image, i.e. the first superposing screenshotimage.

In an embodiment of this application, the obtained screenshot image mayfurther be stored.

The method for generating a screenshot image on a TV terminal providedin various embodiments of this application may have a variety ofimplementations. For example, the screenshot request may be triggered bymeans other than the key stroke or voice of the user. For instance, thescreenshot operation may be triggered when the user toggles, opens orcloses an application, offering convenience to the user in viewingrecently used applications and recent operations of the applications.That is, a screenshot request may be generated and received by the TVterminal, so that the TV terminal may produce a screenshot image, whichincludes no system notification information window interface, for anapplication by leveraging any of the screenshot image generating methodsdepicted in any one of the foregoing FIG. 1 to FIG. 8D. The screenshotimages thus produced may be shown to the user when the user desires toview recently used applications and recent operations. Optionally, ascreenshot operation may also be triggered while using a practicalproduct by pressing and holding the Home key to trigger an operation forviewing recently used programs. The latest screenshot image may thus begenerated and presented to the user by performing the steps of theforegoing screenshot image generating methods. At the same time,historically generated application screenshot images may be, e.g. linedup, and presented to the user.

FIG. 9 is a schematic structural diagram illustrating an apparatus forgenerating a screenshot image on a TV terminal provided in an embodimentof this application. As depicted in FIG. 9, an apparatus for generatinga screenshot image on a TV terminal provided includes:

an acquiring module, configured to acquire a layer range of On ScreenDisplay (OSD) sub-layers corresponding to windows of every applicationdisplayed on an OSD layer upon receiving a screenshot request; and

a processing module, configured to generate the screenshot image bytaking a snap shot of the OSD sub-layers in the layer range.

It should be noted that, the processing module may be configured to:

generate the screenshot image by taking a snap shot of the superposingOSD sub-layers in the layer range. Or, the processor may be configuredto take separate full screen images for each of the OSD sub-layers, andgenerate the final screenshot image according to the sequence in whicheach window displayed on each OSD sub-layer are ranked and superposed.For the implementation, reference may be made to FIG. 1 to FIG. 8D.

It should be noted that, the apparatus can perform any of the TVscreenshot methods depicted in FIG. 1 to FIG. 8D, and may include, butnot limited to, implementations of the following structures.

The processing module may be configured to:

determine whether OSD sub-layers in the layer range are semitransparentlayers, and whether there is an image input at a physical signal sourceof the TV terminal; if yes, generate a first image by taking a snap shotof the OSD sub-layers in the layer range, and a second image by taking asnap shot of the image input from the physical signal source; andgenerate the screenshot image by superposing the first image and thesecond image.

In this case, the first image may further be processed by removing abackground thereof, and the background-removed first image may besuperposed over the second image.

In another optional implementation, the processing module may further beconfigured to:

determine whether an OSD sub-layer corresponding to an outermost windowis an opaque layer, wherein the outermost window is the window in thelayer range displayed at the outermost side of the TV terminal; and ifthe OSD sub-layer corresponding to the outermost window is an opaquelayer, generate the screenshot image by taking a snap shot of the OSDsub-layer containing the outermost window.

In yet another optional implementation, the processing module may beconfigured to:

successively determine whether the OSD sub-layer in the layer range is asemitransparent layer; and if the first OSD sub-layer through to theN-th OSD sub-layer displayed at the outermost side of the TV terminalare semitransparent layers while the (N+1)-th OSD sub-layer is an opaquelayer, generate the screenshot image by taking a snap shot of the OSDsub-layers containing the first window through to the (N+1)-th window,where N≧1.

It should be additionally noted that, the processing module may beconfigured to:

separately determine each OSD sub-layer occupied by a window of eachactive application; and

determine the layer range of the OSD sub-layers corresponding to thewindows of every application based on a collection of OSD sub-layersoccupied by the window of the active applications.

An apparatus may be arranged in a TV for performing the technicalsolution of the embodiment methods shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 8D. Theimplementation principles and technical effects thereof are similar, andneither of which will be repeated herein.

FIG. 10 is a schematic structural diagram illustrating a TV provided inan embodiment of the present application. As depicted FIG. 10, a TV mayinclude: a memory 1001; a processor 1002; and a communication interface1003, where the memory 1001 is configured to store programs which, mayinclude programming codes that include computer operating instructions.The memory 1001 may include a random access memory (RAM), and mayfurther include a non-volatile memory, such as at least one magneticdisk memory.

The processor 1002 is configured to execute the programs stored in thememory 1001 for carrying out the technical solution provided inembodiments of this application, the implementation principles andtechnical effects thereof are similar, which may be understood byreferring to the method embodiment depicted in FIG. 1, and will not berepeated herein.

The communication interface 1003 is configured to receive the screenshotrequest.

Functionalities of the processing module and the acquiring module in theabove described apparatus may be realized through a processor 1002.

Furthermore, the TV may further include a display screen.

The aforementioned components communicate via one or more buses. Thoseof ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the structure for theTV depicted in FIG. 10 is not to limit on the present application.Rather, the structure may be in bus or star connection, may include moreor less components than those shown. Some components may be recombined,or rearranged in alternative ways.

It should be noted that, since the TV embodiments substantiallycorrespond to the method embodiments, similar parts of the methodembodiments may be referred to the apparatus embodiments.

Persons of ordinary skill in the art may understand that, all or a partof steps of the foregoing method embodiments may be implemented by aprogram instructing relevant hardware. The program may be stored in acomputer readable storage medium. When the program is executed, thesteps of the foregoing embodiment methods are performed. The foregoingstorage medium includes various mediums capable of storing programcodes, such as a ROM (read only memory), a RAM (random access memory), amagnetic disk, or an optical disc.

Finally, it should be noted that the foregoing embodiments are merelyintended to describe the technical solutions of the present applicationrather than to limit thereto.

Although the present application is described in detail with referenceto the foregoing embodiments, persons of ordinary skill in the artshould understand that they may still make modifications to thetechnical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments, or makeequivalent replacements to some or all technical features therein;however, these modifications or replacements do not make the essence ofcorresponding technical solutions depart from the scope of the technicalsolutions in the embodiments of the present application.

1. A method for generating a screenshot image on a television (TV)terminal, comprising: upon receiving a screenshot request, acquiring afirst layer range of at least one On Screen Display (OSD) sub-layercorresponding to a window of an application displayed on an OSD layer;and generating the screenshot image by taking a snap shot of the atleast one OSD sub-layer in the first layer range; wherein the generatingthe screenshot image by taking a snap shot of the at least one OSDsub-layer in the first layer range comprises: when the at least one OSDsub-layer in the first layer range comprises an opaque layer, generatingthe screenshot image by taking a snap shot of the opaque layer and otherlayers at the outer side of the opaque layer; when the at least one OSDsub-layer in the first layer range does not comprise an opaque layer andthere is an image input at a physical signal source of the TV terminal,generating a first image by taking a snap shot of the at least one OSDsub-layer in the first layer range, and a second image by taking a snapshot of the image input from the physical signal source; and generatingthe screenshot image by superposing the first image and the secondimage; and when the at least one OSD sub-layer in the first layer rangedoes not comprise an opaque layer and there is no image input at thephysical signal source of the TV terminal, generating the screenshotimage by taking a snap shot of the at least one OSD sub-layer in thefirst layer range.
 2. (canceled)
 3. The method according to claim 1,wherein the generating the screenshot image by superposing the firstimage and the second image comprises: processing the first image byremoving a background thereof; and superposing the background-removedfirst image over the second image. 4-5. (canceled)
 6. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the acquiring a first layer range of atleast one OSD sub-layer corresponding to a window of an applicationdisplayed on an OSD layer comprises: separately determining each OSDsub-layer occupied by each window of each active application; anddetermining the first layer range of the at least one OSD sub-layercorresponding to the window of the application based on a collection ofdetermined OSD sub-layers occupied by windows of active applications. 7.The method according to claim 1, wherein the taking a snap shot of theat least one OSD sub-layer in the first layer range comprises:generating the screenshot image by taking a snap shot of an image formedby superposing OSD sub-layers in the first layer range.
 8. A television(TV), comprising: a memory storing instructions; a processor coupledwith the memory and configured to execute the instructions stored in thememory, and the processor is configured to: upon receiving a screenshotrequest, acquire a first layer range of at least one On Screen Display(OSD) sub-layer corresponding to a window of an application displayed onan OSD layer; and generate a screenshot image by taking a snap shot ofthe at least one OSD sub-layer in the first layer range; wherein theprocessor is configured to: when the at least one OSD sub-layer in thefirst layer range comprises an opaque layer, generate the screenshotimage by taking a snap shot of the opaque layer and other layers at theouter side of the opaque layer; when the at least one OSD sub-layer inthe first layer range does not comprise an opaque layer and there is animage input at a physical signal source of the TV terminal, generate afirst image by taking a snap shot of the at least one OSD sub-layer inthe first layer range, and a second image by taking a snap shot of theimage input from the physical signal source; and generate the screenshotimage by superposing the first image and the second image; and when theat least one OSD sub-layer in the first layer range does not comprise anopaque layer and there is no image input at the physical signal sourceof the TV terminal, generate the screenshot image by taking a snap shotof the at least one OSD sub-layer in the first layer range. 9.(canceled)
 10. The TV according to claim 8, wherein the processor isconfigured to: process the first image by removing a background thereof;and superpose the background-removed first image over the second image.11-12. (canceled)
 13. The TV according to claim 8, wherein the processoris configured to: separately determine each OSD sub-layer occupied byeach window of each active application; and determine the first layerrange of the at least one OSD sub-layer corresponding to the window ofthe application based on a collection of determined OSD sub-layersoccupied by windows of active applications.
 14. The TV according toclaim 8, wherein the processor is configured to: generate the screenshotimage by taking a snap shot of an image formed by superposing OSDsub-layers in the first layer range.
 15. A non-volatile computerreadable medium having an instruction set stored thereon which, whenbeing executed, causes a machine to perform a method for generating ascreenshot image on a television (TV) terminal, wherein the methodcomprises: upon receiving a screenshot request, acquiring a first layerrange of at least one On Screen Display (OSD) sub-layer corresponding toa window of an application displayed on an OSD layer; and generating thescreenshot image by taking a snap shot of the at least one OSD sub-layerin the first layer range; wherein the generating the screenshot image bytaking a snap shot of the at least one OSD sub-layer in the first layerrange comprises: when the at least one OSD sub-layer in the first layerrange comprises an opaque layer, generating the screenshot image bytaking a snap shot of the opaque layer and other layers at the outerside of the opaque layer; when the at least one OSD sub-layer in thefirst layer range does not comprise an opaque layer and there is animage input at a physical signal source of the TV terminal, generating afirst image by taking a snap shot of the at least one OSD sub-layer inthe first layer range, and a second image by taking a snap shot of theimage input from the physical signal source; and generating thescreenshot image by superposing the first image and the second image;and when the at least one OSD sub-layer in the first layer range doesnot comprise an opaque layer and there is no image input at the physicalsignal source of the TV terminal, generating the screenshot image bytaking a snap shot of the at least one OSD sub-layer in the first layerrange.
 16. (canceled)
 17. The method according to claim 1, wherein thefirst layer range is a layer range of all OSD sub-layers correspondingto windows of all applications displayed on the OSD layer, and thesecond layer range is a layer range of all OSD sub-layers correspondingto all windows of system notification information displayed on the OSDlayer; wherein the OSD sub-layers in the second layer range are not usedfor generating the screenshot image.
 18. The method according to claim1, wherein an OSD sub-layer corresponds one-to-one to a window, and oneapplication has one or more windows.
 19. (canceled)
 20. The TV accordingto claim 8, wherein the first layer range is a layer range of all OSDsub-layers corresponding to windows of all applications displayed on theOSD layer, and the second layer range is a layer range of all OSDsub-layers corresponding to all windows of system notificationinformation displayed on the OSD layer; wherein the OSD sub-layers inthe second layer range are not used for generating the screenshot image.21. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method furthercomprises acquiring a second layer range of at least one OSD sub-layercorresponding to a window of system notification information displayedon the OSD layer.
 22. The TV according to claim 8, wherein the processoris further configured to acquire a second layer range of at least oneOSD sub-layer corresponding to a window of system notificationinformation displayed on the OSD layer.
 23. The method according toclaim 15, wherein the method further comprises acquiring a second layerrange of at least one OSD sub-layer corresponding to a window of systemnotification information displayed on the OSD layer.